NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 04/13/2020

April 13, 2020

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

04/13/2020 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Apr 12, 2020 12:00 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that a Vancouver Canucks forward is heading overseas to the KHL, Artemi Panarin tries to clarify comments he made about skipping next season, the Canadiens are looking at suitable backup goaltender options, and there is talk about the NHL moving to neutral site games in an attempt to finish out the NHL season.

Goldobin to Sign in KHL

It appears as though Nikolay Goldobin is heading overseas. Sport-Express’ Igor Eronko reports that Goldobin is expected to sign a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL and TSN 1040’s Rick Dhaliwal added a quick statement from Goldobin essentially confirming the report.

Dhaliwal writes that when asked about signing in Russia, Goldobin responded with, “The Canucks did not want to sign me, I was disappointed how it turned out in VAN but I am happy to sign in KHL and will try NHL again in 2 years.”

After being waived by the Canucks, Goldobin spent the entire year with AHL Utica Comets and played well, recording 50 points in 51 games.

Panarin Says He Was “Just Kidding”

The other day, we reported a story that New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin said he might simply “skip the season” if the NHL asked players to take salary cuts. Now, he says he was only kidding.

The report came from Russian sports outlet Sports.ru, who had picked up an Instagram conversation between Panarin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Apparently, the conversation was not meant to be taken seriously and that Panarin was laughing while he made the remarks, which gets lost in translation. The report noted that Panarin said: “Ahh. I think we will have less. If 40 to 60 percent, then why am I doing this at all? Then I will probably skip the next year.”

Knowing that he’d gotten people talking and that there might be some concern, especially for the New York Rangers who committed a lot of money to Panarin, he came out Saturday and told the New York Post in an interview: “Of course I was kidding,” Panarin said in a text to a Rangers executive “I was laughing.”

It stands to reason that Panarin wouldn’t want to forgo the huge bonuses he has worked into his contract, not to mention he’s already got one of the more lucrative contracts in the NHL.

Canadiens Looking at Jaroslav Halak?

NBC Sports writer James O’Brien recently noted that the Montreal Canadiens might be looking for backup goaltender behind star goalie Carey Price. While more money invested in their goaltending isn’t ideal, Price has looked inconsistent at times.

O’Brien highlighted a few names, but one that is quite interesting is Montreal Canadiens fan favorite in Jaroslav Halak. There are also big questions in Boston when it comes to netminding as Halak is part of a duo of goaltenders in Boston who have recently made the news because there future there seems uncertain. Halak is a free agent at the end of this season.

Non-NHL Cities Pitching the NHL

There are many scenarios being tossed around, in the event that the NHL can get back up and running again. One of the ideas on the table is the league playing games in empty arenas at neutral site locations. Grand Forks, North Dakota started the conversation and now more cities are being discussed.

The common thread among the locations is that the Coronavirus has not hit these locations hard. North Dakota, Manchester, New Hampshire are among them but Deputy Commisioner Bill Daly tells ESPN that cities from around North America have contacted the NHL and started to pitch themselves as a potential host. Daly explains:

We do have people putting together the comprehensive laundry list of what we would need from facilities and evaluating some facilities on some level. But I can’t tell you we’ve even finished creating a list [of potential sites], much less narrowed it down.

Daly specifically names Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in addition to Grand Forks and Manchester as some of the early candidates.

By Jim Parsons on Apr 11, 2020 03:26 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news from the Boston Bruins’ brass about their contract status with a few players. There is also buzz surrounding what the Montreal Canadiens might do this off-season and how they can target 10 teams with potential salary cap issues. Tyler Toffoli of the Vancouver Canucks talks about the potential of re-signing in Vancouver and the Edmonton Oilers, along with the hockey world loses a beloved player.

Bruins Hope To Find Resolution With Krug

Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal tweeted that Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney is hoping to bring back defenseman Torey Krug. Despite comments from Krug that he’s not sure where he fits and that he’s concerned he may have played his last game for the Bruins, Sweeney hopes that is not the case.

“We’ve had very good discussions with Torey’s group — we just haven’t found a landing spot yet. … We’re hopeful that we’ll find a resolution,” Sweeney noted. He continued: “I dearly hope Torey (Krug) hasn’t played his last game (with the Bruins) this year or going forward.”

Montreal Canadiens Poised to Strike?

Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic write that the Montreal Canadiens are in a good position to take advantage of a potentially flat salary-cap for 2020-21. Noting their cap space and flexibility, they figure the plan is to target cap-strapped clubs in need of shedding salary before next season.

They listed 10 teams that would struggle with a salary cap that doesn’t increase and wrote:

If the Canadiens could be convinced to part with their first-round pick or two of their three second-round picks in 2020, they could potentially acquire a true impact player.

source – ‘Why the Canadiens are positioned to take full advantage of a flat NHL salary cap’ – Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin – The Athletic – 04/07/2020

There have also been rumors the Canadiens might look at another offer sheet situation and note, “No matter how that played out, it wouldn’t be wise to think Bergevin wouldn’t try it again just because it didn’t work the first time.”

Louis-André Larivière of TVA SPORTS also recently wondered if Bergevin might target Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with an offer sheet. Bergevin traded Sergachev three years ago to the Lightning for Jonathan Drouin.

Tyler Toffoli’s Status With Canucks

Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet looked at the potential extension talks between Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning and recently acquired forward Tyler Toffoli. Benning has interest in re-signing the pending unrestricted free agent but Toffoli isn’t quite sure what he’ll do.

Toffoli says he enjoyed his time in Vancouver but hasn’t really thought about what comes after this season. With the uncertainty surrounding salary caps, that makes sense. Toffoli said:

“The guys treated me awesome, the fans were great, the coaching staff … everything was awesome. When that time comes that I’ve got to start thinking about all this — and honestly, I haven’t really thought about any of it — we’ll go from there.

“The only conversation that we’ve really had is to see where this season is going to go. That’s not my decision, where the cap’s going to go. Like I said, nobody could have ever imagined this happening and this scenario.”

Condolences to the Cave Family

We noted earlier today that Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave passed away from complications stemming from a brain bleed. Our best wishes and condolences go out to the Cave family, his teammates and friends.

You will be missed.

By Jim Parsons on Apr 10, 2020 01:45 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that Artemi Panarin might skip next season, the Ottawa Senators are looking at what to do with Brady Tkachuk, and one scribe looks at changes coming to the Pacific Division. Finally, the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to get creative when it comes to using this pause to become a more cohesive team.

Panarin to Skip Next Season?

According to Sport.ru [requires translation] out of Russia, Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers is under the impression NHL players will have to take major pay cuts and if those pay cuts are too big, he may just sit out the season.

In most industries, workers and employees have taken a financial hit when it comes to the COVID-19 virus. Hockey players may be asked to do so too. When the conversation about pay decreases came up, “100%, they think,” Panarin. He absolutely believes players will be asked to cut salaries.

At that point, it becomes how much is too much? “Ahh. I think we will have less. If 40 to 60 percent, then why am I doing this at all? Then I will probably skip the next year,” he said. He then said he would jump to the KHL if the NHL asked him to take too big a salary cut.

Panarin made other comments about the amount of tax he’d pay, even with a salary cut and how the KHL doesn’t pay nearly that amount of tax.

Senators and Tkachuk Contract Extension Talk

During a round-table talk on The Athletic, Max Bultman, Lisa Dillman and Hailey Salvian spoke about one of the important question facing the Ottawa Senators this off-season — that being the contract extension for forward Brady Tkachuk.

Tkachuk has one-year left on his deal and will be eligible for an extension once the free agent period opens. They write:

He’ll be in team control when his ELC expires, but the big question is will Tkachuk also take the leap and sign long-term? Will he do it before next summer and avoid offer-sheet drama? Will he ask for a bridge deal? These are the biggest questions. Honestly, I don’t have the answers for them right now, but I hope to address them in a story soon.

source -‘ Roundtable: Evaluating and projecting the future for the NHL’s worst teams’ Max Bultman, Lisa Dillman and Hailey Salvian – The Athletic – 04/09/2020

Pacific Division Rumors

The Score’s Sean O’Learly recently looked at a number of questions facing Pacific Division teams. He took a look at each franchise one-by-one and asked one question they’ll be facing heading into next season.

He asked, ‘What is the direction for the Anaheim Ducks?’ and said that the team may look at trading some key pieces as part of their rebuild. Could they consider shopping veterans such as Adam Henrique, Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler and Josh Manson?

In Calgary, he asked if either T.J. Brodie or Travis Hamonic will be back next season and noted Travis Hamonic shouldn’t be too expensive to retain. He also wondered if recently-acquired Erik Gustafsson might be offered a team-friendly deal.

He believes the Edmonton Oilers will make it a priority to find cheap reinforcements so young players like Kailer Yamamoto, Ethan Bear, and Evan Bouchard can develop even further.

Maple Leafs Using Pause to Get Creative

Auston Matthews said, as per a TSN report, that head coach Sheldon Keefe is trying to find creative ways during the NHL pause to get the Toronto Maple Leafs to gel better as a team. Matthews said:

“I think he kind of pinpointed the fact that he’s been looking to use this moment and find different ways for the team to be better, areas of weaknesses and strengths and stuff like that. I think that shows a commitment to being the best coach that he can be and obviously help the team as much as possible.”

The Maple Leafs haven’t always been accused of having the best team chemistry, especially considering how front-heavy the team has been designed. Part of the problem has been the way the team starts games. “I think for us, just trying to have more of a killer mentality in the way we start games [would be big],” he said.

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